A Plymouth councillor who quit UKIP three years after securing a seat on the council for the party has revealed why he decided to jump ship to the Tories.

Former fireman John Riley says 'ordinary' people of the city made him realise he needed to change his political colours.

He says constituents he met in the local newsagent, the pub and on walks around his ward of Honicknowle had increasingly asked him 'what was the point in Ukip anymore' now that the country is headed towards Brexit and Tory prime minister Theresa May is heading up negotiations.

Cllr Riley along with councillors Maddie Bridgeman and Christopher Storer announced they were quitting Ukip at the weekend and joining the Tories, bolstering the party's position on the council. The group now has a majority with 30 seats, with Labour in second on 27.

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Cllr Riley, a council cabinet member, said: "The media, family, friends, the people who live in my ward, from the people who I meet having a pint, on a walk and down the newsagent, more and more of them over the last couple of years have been saying, "what's the point of Ukip, where does it go now?"

"The government is driving the Brexit agenda. Ukip is not part of that.

"I have just had this build up of feedback from people and it has increased in the last couple of months.